Argh! Vet rant.

Late last night (about midnight, when I did the last check on the hogs), I noticed that Vette had a bit of white discharge around her right nostril and that she would routinely rub the left side of her head on the floor when walking. She doesn’t appear to be unsteady when walking, but she hasn’t wheeled in a few days. This is far from normal, so I decided to call her vet today and book her in as soon as I could.

Her regular vet can’t see her until the 26th. Her secondary vet is booked until mid-March. Four other clinics that I was referred to from the previous two tell me they don’t see hedgehogs. Park didn’t answer their phone.

I managed to finally find a vet that could see her on Saturday. I’ve never even heard of the vet, and the reviews I’ve read are very mixed. However, there is a hedgehog-savvy vet in on Saturday, which I guess is a complete fluke. S/he’s usually not in on weekends, or so I was told.

I seriously can’t believe how difficult it is to get an appointment for my animals. I was on the phone for 45 minutes, just calling places and asking for an appointment. Here’s hoping this place (Crestwood) is okay.

On an aside, ms. Vette also enjoys chamomile tea. She actually chose it over her bowl of fresh water.

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That must really suck. I'm glad you were able to get her in to see someone for Saturday though. Here's hoping it's nothing!

I’m going to assume it’s nothing too major. She’s still eating and acting pretty normal, aside from the lack of wheeling and her new head-rubbing habit. She motors around just fine when I let her loose on the floor to play and she doesn’t appear unsteady when walking.

I noticed this morning that the discharge on her nose is gone. I gave her a bowl of chamomile tea last night because I figured it couldn’t hurt. It helps humans who have colds, so maybe it’ll help her out a bit. I’m also going to put her in a carrier and leave her in a steamy bathroom for about 10-15 minutes to help things drain. It can’t hurt her, but it could provide some relief while we’re waiting for her vet appointment.

I really need to move to Calgary though (which is actually on the horizon) so I can go to the vet you see, Sandi. That office sounds amazing.

That's very surprising--- even when my vet is completely booked, they still try to find the 15 minutes it takes to look at my hedgies. I'm surprised they're not very accommodating like that.

Is there an emergency vet in the area that you can see if needed? Or are they the only ones?

Well, at least you got someone for her.

btw- she sounds like such a dainty lady drinking tea!!

Hoping the stately Lady Vette will be well soon!

That is strange! I can almost always get a same-day appointment with my vet, if I call reasonably early. They try here to keep some appointments open for those who need immediate care, especially since it's quite a hike to the nearest emergency vet. I hope everything is okay with little Vette!

You're defenetly not lucky. When I brought Litchi to the vet last month because of entiritis, we called the night and got a apointment the next day even if they say they don't take emergency (I think they mean new "custumer")

There is an emergency vet here, not too far from my work, actually. However, I don't quite trust them. When I called with an emergency with Hemi before she died, the receptionist actually had no idea what a hedgehog was. When she put the vet on duty on the phone, they said, "oh yeah... they're like a hamster. We definitely see hamsters."

A lot of the vets around here work either part time, or they book up very quickly. It's very inconvenient. I started calling today at 8am (most places open at 8am) and every vet I spoke to were booked right up for the day or they no longer saw hedgehogs. One place did have an appointment open today... for 8:15am. Unfortunately, that place was on the south side, I work downtown, and Vette is on the north side. There was no way I could have made it from work, to home and to the vet in 15 minutes, especially since the next appointment for that vet was at something like 8:45 or something. It's just stupid.

However, I'm keeping an eye on her and if I think she's getting worse, we'll go in as an emergency and hope for the best. Thanks for the well wishes.

Courtney said:

There is an emergency vet here, not too far from my work, actually. However, I don't quite trust them. When I called with an emergency with Hemi before she died, the receptionist actually had no idea what a hedgehog was. When she put the vet on duty on the phone, they said, "oh yeah... they're like a hamster. We definitely see hamsters."

A lot of the vets around here work either part time, or they book up very quickly. It's very inconvenient.

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Geez... I hate when people classify hedgehogs as rodents... not that I have anything against rodents, but in terms of treatment, they're totally different classes.

I will refer to them as hamsters when talking to apartment complexes, since they don't allow exotics usually.

Hrm... part-time vets, eh? That is terribly inconvenient indeed. My vet says she works full-time, though she doesn't come in until 10 and leaves at 6- and takes lunch from noon to 2. Not really sure how that equals full-time.

Anyway, I hope Vette holds out another day... is her situation stable? Does she seem better/worse?

I would not discount an emergency vet based on one phone call in which you were probably talking to the office staff. Emergency vet clinics are often made up of vets city wide and each take their turn working after hours.

Any vet can treat a hedgehog for a URI. It's no different than a rat or other small animal. They also have the books as well as the internet vet site to access information.

Lauren, Vette seems just like herself aside from the bit of discharge I saw Wednesday night and the head rubbing. I haven't seen the discharge since Wednesday, and she didn't rub her head on the floor as often yesterday as she did Wednesday. She is eating and drinking, and her weight is stable - it fluctuates by about 30 grams based on the time of day.

Hrm... well, sounds like little Miss Vette is improving at the very least. Doesn't seem to be anything that would cause major concern as of yet.... maybe that tea helped her out!

Courtney said:

I really need to move to Calgary though (which is actually on the horizon) so I can go to the vet you see, Sandi. That office sounds amazing.

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You're going to move here? That would be so awesome! And yes, you would love my clinic. It's open 24 hours and they have 3 vets who know exotics. And on the off chance that one of them isn't there, they are all on call all the time, so the other vets can talk to them if it's an emergency. I've never waited more than a day or two for an appointment, and often they can get me in the same day.

AlbertaGirl said:

You're going to move here? That would be so awesome! And yes, you would love my clinic. It's open 24 hours and they have 3 vets who know exotics. And on the off chance that one of them isn't there, they are all on call all the time, so the other vets can talk to them if it's an emergency. I've never waited more than a day or two for an appointment, and often they can get me in the same day.

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It's not a definite, but it's a very strong possibility. Adam will be done school in April and his buddy in Calgary is keeping an eye open for any places looking for a draftsperson. Adam loves Calgary, and I'm willing to relocate wherever he can get a great job. The fact that Calgary has a great vet AND Spruce Meadows is a benefit to me. :dance3:

Try Beaumont Animal Clinic, the vet there is awesome. He's the best exotics vet I've ever seen. In fact the best vet period. Never had a problem with anything he's done for my guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils or cats, and I know he sees hedgehogs because we've talked about them before. He also works out of Leduc 1 Saturday a month I think it is... I know he's in tomorrow because I talked to him tonight about my mum's diabetic cat and he said he was working tomorrow in Leduc.. but I'd guess they are probably completely booked for tomorrow.

Thanks, Meowzer. Beaumont is actually a bit of a drive for me (about 45-60 minutes) but I'll keep it in mind for the future.

Vette and I just got back from the vet, and I must say... he was very thorough and gentle. Normally, Vette snaps right into a ball when any man comes near, but she actually sniffed him for a few seconds and let him check her ears quickly.

The verdict: I had her scraped for mites again since she still drops quills for no reason. She's dropping fewer quills (about 2 per day), but I still get her checked anytime we go to the vet. The skin scraping can back clean. He did a fecal exam and that tested fine as well... no bacteria in there that we need to worry about. He sedated her, checked her ears more thoroughly and found no inflammation or signs of infection. She did, however, have a massive build up of wax, so he drained that for her. He swabbed the discharge from her nose and didn't find any signs of infection in there. However, he did hear a bit of a wheeze in her chest, so he prescribed an Amoxicillian to her. He originally prescribed Baytril, but I asked for an alternative due to the issues I've heard and the issues I've experienced with it. She's on 0.28 mL twice daily for 14 days. It's strawberry scented, so I'm going to assume the taste is similar and she'll enjoy it.

Overall, he said she was in fine shape aside from that slight wheeze. I'm to call if she gets worse or experiences any side effects from the Amoxicillin. It was a great vet office, and I would definitely go back. It was HUGE that Vette actually showed interest in him and took the time to sniff him. Normally, she snaps into a tight ball the minute a man comes near. She has a strong aversion to most men.

Glad to hear she's all (errr...mostly) good. And yay! A reliable vet that you can add to your 8 am calling list!!!

Glad to hear that all went well and there's nothing seriously wrong. They just like to push our buttons from time to time, I guess!

The big bonus... Vette seems to tolerate her medicine. If I hold the syringe in front of her face and wait, eventually she gets tired of it being there and takes the medicine. When she's done, she swats it away with her paw. Success!

She also wheeled last night for the first time in about a week. It was hilarious. She was on the wheel when I went up to my room at about midnight and without thinking, I switched on the light. Most hedgehogs freeze and pretend they're anywhere but where they are. Vette leapt off her wheel, ran straight for her bag, figured out she couldn't get in through the side, went around the back and started trying to burrow under. I turned the light off to give her a bit of a chance to get where she was supposed to be before I turned on the light quickly so I could check the food dishes and hop into bed. It was a huge panic, but man, she's fast.

So glad about Ladt Vette!